Roth reinvesting

[Rustyflyer]

I have $20,000 in ongix a jpmorgan fund. I was told it was a good one when opening the account. Recently I have been trying to educate myself and take control. It is a high front load and over 1% expense ratio. What I would like to do is sell it and reinvest the money into VTI. I would like to do all of this within the Roth IRA without withdrawing the money.
Will I have to pay tax on this?
Will this count as my yearly contribution?
Is this a good idea?

[reeshau]

Short answers, and long answers.

Will I have to pay tax on this?

No.  As long as you keep it within a Roth, you will not pay taxes on it.

(even if you have to roll it over to a new account, that allows you to access VTI--but do a *direct rollover* if you do--let your new custodian handle the transfer)

Will this count as my yearly contribution?

No.

Contributions are new money coming into the account, from your income.  Changing investments within the account has no impact.

Is this a good idea?

Yes.

You learned a hard lesson here, but the load was a front-end load (and went into the pocket of the broker who "recommended" it to you) so it is a sunk cost--water under the bridge.  Now you see a fund charging you 1% per year.  If it isn't beating the S&P 500 by at least that 1% per year, it's not earning its keep.  A tidal wave of evidence shows it's better to take the guaranteed money of lower fund costs, not to mention less mental work of not having to monitor the funds performance vs. peers.

[RWD]

I have $20,000 in ongix a jpmorgan fund. I was told it was a good one when opening the account.

It's a good one for JP Morgan. Not so much for you. Exchanging it all for VTI/VTSAX is a good decision and will not have any tax consequences.